August 2008

Johan Velten (Valentine)
Shultz

b.
1710/11 or 24 Jul 1715d. before 16
Nov 1745

Johan Velten Shultz (called Valentine)
lived a rather short span of years; nevertheless, his life was long enough to leave a riddle that Shultz researchers
have pondered and fought over for a long time.Two different Shultz families
had sons who were named Johan Velten Shultz.Both claim our ancestor as a member
of their family.They both say he came to America on the Pennsylvania Merchant.They both say that married Eva Maria Stocker.They both say their Johan Velten had children named Heinrich, Johan Peter, Johan Valentine, Johan Martin, Mary Eve,
and Johan Christian.They both say their son owned certain lands, attended certain
churches, and so forth.Which one is right?

Many researchers avoid this problem
by simply saying, “We don’t know who his parents were.”(I
rather wish I had done that, but I didn’t.In the following account
I will try to give a running commentary on the debate.)

Parents

To be quite honest, we don’t
really know anything for certain about who Johan Velten Shultz’s parents were.In addition, we don’t know for sure when he was born.Some sources
say he was born 24 July 1715, but others say he was born in 1710 or 1711.Many
give an option of c1710/11-1715.This discrepancy probably began because of the
two different families.After all, there were two different men named Valentine
Shultz.

Although researchers disagree on
Valentine’s parents, the two “best” possibilities place him in a large family.Theory #1 is that his parents were Heinrich Christoff Shultz(b.
1680-d. after 1718) and Sophe Margaretta Unknown (b.?-d.?) who had a family of at least eleven children:Hans Martin, Johannes Leonard Heinrich, Anna Margretta, Johan Heinrich, Catherina Magdalena,
Johan Velten (Valentine), Johan Andreas, Simon Velten, Louisa Eleanor, Christoff Gerhard, and Catherina Barbara.The Valentine in this family was reportedly born 24 Jul 1715.The family lived in Darmstadt, Hessen, which—as you may have already guessed—is located in
the Palatinate region of Germany.Three of the sons in this family migrated to
Pennsylvania.Heinrich Christoff and Sophe Margaretta are currently considered
the “correct” parents of our ancestor.

Theory #2 is that our Valentine’s
parents were Gabriel Shultz, the Burgomaster of Genheim, and his wife Anna Margaretta who lived in the Pfaltz, Alsace, Germany—part
of the Palatinate.They, too, had a large family consisting of at least 5 sons:Heinrich, Jacob, Hans Martin, John, and Valentine.This Valentine was reportedly born in 1710 or 1711.This
family also had at least two daughters named Elizabeth and Anna Catherina.All
five of these sons and the two named daughters moved to PA at about the same time as the three sons from the other Shultz
family.This theory was the one in favor until fairly recently.(Sometime before 1980)

Leaving
Germany

No matter
who Valentine’s parents were, certain historical elements are the same.By
the time Valentine was 16 (or 20), Germany was not the place to be for members of certain religious groups such as Lutherans,
Anabaptists, Mennonites, and so forth.Religious persecution and turmoil were
still devastating the land and the people.In the midst of the “unpleasantness”
William Penn had extended an invitation to the war-weary Palatines to come to America and settle in the Pennsylvania colony.Because they were Lutherans, Valentine and/or his parents decided to move to
PA from Germany.Not long before the journey began, the people who think our
Valentine was the son of Heinrich Christoff Shultz say he married a young woman named Elizabeth (surname unknown) and took
her with him to the colonies.He was 16 (or 20), and his wife Elizabeth
was 20.Whether this was a marriage of love or convenience, Valentine
was wise to take a wife with him to PA.He would need her help and companionship
to endure the rigors of life in the new world. (I contend…with
absolutely no proof…that this Valentine and Elizabeth came to the colonies on an as yet undetermined vessel.)

Those
who think Valentine was the son of Gabriel Shultz say he and his sister Elizabeth (rather than his wife) traveled to
Rotterdam in 1731 with other family members where they booked passage on the brigantine PennsylvaniaMerchant
and headed for Philadelphia via Dover, England.Including spouses and extended
family, there were about 15-20 people in the group.Valentine and Elizabeth were
listed as “o 16” (over 16).With Valentine and Elizabeth was Jacob
Shultz, listed as “u 16” (under 16).For years it was assumed that
all the Shultzes on board the Pennsylvania Merchant were related.That
is why Theory #2 was preferred at that time—it takes everyone into account.

The
Pennsylvania Merchant

The Pennsylvania
Merchant’s passenger list certainly suggests Gabriel as Valentine’s father.As suggested earlier, one reason that researchers assumedthat all the
Shultz men on board were brothers or otherwise related was that the five sons of Gabriel Shultz migrated to the colonies within
a few years time—some of them arriving on the same ship.In addition, the
three sons of Heinrich Christoff Shultz who moved to the colonies did so at approximately the same time as Gabriel’s
sons.This caused some researchers to say that part of the Shultz men on board
the Pennsylvania Merchant could be sons of Heinrich and part of them could be sons of Gabriel. The names within the
two families are so similar (i.e.: two Hans Martins, two Valentines, and two Heinrichs) that telling the men apart is difficult.
Consequently, our Valentine is sometimes found listed as the son of both Gabriel and Heinrich.

After
a time, researchers began to say that Valentine was not the brother of the other Shultzes on board.I was unable to discover their reasons (other than using the Pennsylvania Merchant as a means of
getting Heinrich’s Valentine from Germany to PA.To get him on board, the
other Valentine had to disappear from the ship.)Today’s consensus
(I am told) is that our Valentine is the son of Heinrich rather than Gabriel.(I
am willing to agree but with certain reservations.I think that the Hans Martin,
Valentine, Elizabeth, and Jacob on board the Pennsylvania Merchant were probably siblings and were children of Gabriel Shultz,
and that the other Valentine, son of Heinrich and husband of Elizabeth, came on another ship—which I haven’t been
able to find.Lots of people more knowledgeable than I am disagree.As long as we do not tie Heinrich’s Valentine to the Pennsylvania Merchant, I agree with their probable
relationship as father and son.)Church records in PA, however, show
that Heinrich, Jacob, Hans Martin, John, and Valentinewere all sons of Gabriel Shultz.Heinrich
came to PA first.Hans Martin, Jacob and Valentine came together on the Pennsylvania
Merchant, and John came a few years later.

The
fact that Valentine named his first son Heinrich and Hans Martin named his first son Henry would be good evidence for the
Theory #1 supporters.On the other hand, why would there be a young Jacob Shultz
listed with Valentine and Elizabeth on the passenger list when Heinrich did not have a son named Jacob?

The
idea that Gabriel Shultz’s sons Hans Martin and Jacob just happened to be on board the same ship as Heinrich’s
Valentine seems too contrived.Too many things become “awkward” if
this scenario is to be believed.This argument says that the Elizabeth on board
the Pennsylvania Merchant was Valentine’s wife.Unfortunately for
this argument, Jacob Shultz, “u 16,” was also listed with Valentine Shultz “o 16” and Elizabeth Shultz
“o 16.” Why would these people be together if they were from different families?Remember, Heinrich did not have a son named Jacob.(In looking at the
ship’s list, one gets the feeling that two different people were in charge of recording data.The first part of the list records names and specific ages; the second part of the list, however, uses
the “u16” or “o16” designations almost exclusively.Specific
ages would have certainly answered a lot of questions.While we’re wishing,
wouldn’t it be tidier if the two conflictingd.o.b’s were switched?Switched
dates would make the married Valentine 20—with a 20-year-old wife—and the unmarried Valentine 16.)

(Important:No matter which parental side you choose, the information on Johan Velten (Valentine)
Shultz is basically identical.What we know about Valentine after he arrived
in America is basically the same no matter whom you believe his parents to be.Could
it be that Gabriel’s son Valentine died shortly after arriving in PA?Could
it be that researchers accidentally picked up Heinrich’s Valentine’s biographical info and erroneously linked
it to Gabriel’s Valentine?Is that how we end up having both Valentines
marrying the same woman, dying at the same time, and leaving the same orphans?)

New
Life in America

According
to the Heinrich Christoff Shultz faction, after arriving in Philadelphia on10 Sep 1731, Valentine
signed an oath of allegiance on 11 Sep 1731 to the PA province and in essence to King George II of England, and he and Elizabeth
became naturalized citizens.(This signing poses a problem.In addition to finding a ship for Heinrich’s Valentine and Elizabeth, we now also need to find a
signing date for them.Because he was 20, Gabriel’s Valentine would have
needed to sign; a married 16-year-old would have needed to sign, too.Whichever
of the two men was on board the Pennsylvania Merchant, we can’t distinguish who signed.Again, if the d.o.b.’s were switched—problem solved.) Almost
immediately Elizabeth and Valentine left Philadelphia and headed for what was then considered the frontier—the land
between the wilderness and civilization.Their trip took them to the western
bank of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.There on Little
ConewagoCreek they began to construct their “plantation” as farms were called in the colonies.Their plantation was located in what was to become Manchester Township, York Co.,
PA.

By 1734 Elizabeth was pregnant, and
on 20 June 1735 she gave birth to a son, Heinrich, called Henry.Unfortunately,
Elizabeth died in childbirth, leaving the 20- or 24-year-old Valentine alone on the frontier with an infant.Elizabeth was buried in Manchester Township, Lancaster Co., PA.She
was only 24 years old.(Note:Since some researchers say that Elizabeth was Valentine’s unmarried sister, not his wife, and that she married
and went her own way after arrival in America, then, if this is the case, the Valentine on board the Pennsylvania Merchant
was unmarried when he came to America—more evidence that he was Gabriel’s son and that our Valentine and his Elizabeth
were probably not on the Pennsylvania Merchant at all but on another vessel.Our
Valentine, after all, supposedly wed in Germany.)

New
Wife in America

Again, according to the Heinrich
Shultz people, on 16 October of 1735, four months after his first wife died, Valentine remarried.According to the Gabriel faction, the Oct 1735 marriage was Valentine’s first.If Theory 1 is correct, the quick remarriage was normal.As
a matter of survival, widows and widowers were quick to remarry in colonial times, and with a newborn son, Valentine had more
reason than most.

From this point on, there is basically
no difference in Theories 1 and 2.From this point on, both families are talking
about the same person.(Somewhere along the way one of the Valentines was
lost.Maybe Heinrich’s Valentine can’t be found on another ship because
he stayed in Germany with his wife Elizabeth and never came to the colonies.) Both
theories say Valentine’s “new” bride was Eva Maria Stocker (b. c1716 in Switzerland-d after 5 June 1777 in Manchester, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania).They were married in Conestoga Township, Lancaster Co., PA.Maria
was the daughter of Peter (b.1680-d.?) and Anna Stocker(b1682-d.?)On 11 Oct 1733 when she was 17, Maria, her parents, and her 13-year-old sister Barbara had arrived in PA
on board the Charming Betty just two years after Valentine and Elizabeth had arrived.Like the Shultzes, the Stockers quickly moved from the city to the frontier in PA.Valentine and Eva Maria were married 16 Oct 1735 before the Elders of the Kreutz Creek Church and then had the marriage
validated by a clergyman from the Trappe Congregation.

Importance of Church and Religion

As to
be expected--since they had suffered religious persecution--Valentine and his wife (or wives) were strong supporters of and
participants in their church. In fact, Valentine was one of the founders of the German Evangelical Church of York Co., PA.In addition, he is listed as one of the church members who contributed money to
purchase a blank record book for the church.Velten and his wife also sponsored
a number of children at their baptisms. On 22 May 1738 Velten stood as one of the godparents for Anna Margaretha Loffel, daughter
of Johan Christian Loffel.On 18 September 1740 both he and Eva Maria became
godparents for Maria Eva Hanspacher, daughter of Johan Jorg Hanspacher.On 24
November 1742 Valentine’s wife Eva Maria was one of the godparents for Maria Barbara Mang, daughter of Gottried Mang.

Valentine’s
Family

According
to both Shultz families, Valentine was a farmer.The Gabriel Shultz family
says Hans Martin wasan architect, builder, and fine cabinetmaker. Jacob became a blacksmith.All of these occupations would be useful in the colonies.

Valentine
was skilled in farming methods he had learned in Germany, and he put them to use on his “plantation” in PA.Soon he and Maria had five more children to help with the farm work, bringing their
family total, with Henry, to six.

2.Johan
Peter (b. 1736-d.?) m. Elizabeth Hoke c1750 daughter of Johann Frederick and Anna Catherine Foobach of Hanover Land, Hozhausen,
Germany.They had 10 children:George
Philip, John Valentine, Anna Eva, Julianna, Elizabeth, Catharina, Anna Maria, Christiana, John Peter, and Sabina.A Johan Peter Shultz served as a Lieutenant during the Revolutionary War.In 1776 he was under Captain Yost Harbach on the muster roll of the 3rd
Battalion, commanded by Colonel Robert McPherson.On 4 May 1778 he fought in
the 7th company under Captain Yost Harbaugh and commanded by Colonel Rankin.(Note:There is another Johan Peter Shultz, b. 1736 [of course] in Manchester
Co. PA who married Maria Catherina UNKNOWN in 1762 in PA. To be quite honest, I’m not sure which one is ours; maybe
they are all the same person)

4.Johan Martin (Dr.)(b. c1740-d. 1787 in Sullivan Co., NC
(now TN)(Our ancestor) m.Julianna Stentz
(b. c1741 in Hellam Township-d.?) daughter of Heinrich (Henry) Stentz and Maria Dorothea Bossart 28 Jul 1761 in Christ Lutheran
Church, York Co, PA. Julianna died in Sevier Co, TN and was buried in Emerts Cove Cemetery, Sevier Co, TN (unmarked grave).
Martin died and was buried in Sullivan Co; his gravesite is unknown.Martin was
a cordwainer (shoemaker) and later became a self-taught physician.He was an
“Over Mountain Man” during the Revolution and fought at the battle of King’s Mountain.Martin and Julianna had six children: Valentine, David, John, Jacob, Martin, and Julia Ann.(To learn more about Martin, scroll down the navigation bar on the left to “Dr. Martin Shultz”
and click.)

6.Johan Christian(b 3 Apr 1744 in Manchester Township, Lancaster
Co., PA.) m.Unknown.(Christian
and his family moved first to Washington Co., VA and then in 1778 moved to Washington Co., NC which later became Washington
Co., TN[With all the name changes and reconfigurations of counties, I rather
suspect that the Shultzes didn’t move at all once they reached Washington Co. J.])

Velten Shultz died as a young
man.It is likely that his death occurred as an accident or as the result of
a fast acting disease or ailment, for not only was he just 30 or 34 years old at the time of his death, he left no will.Velten died sometime before 16 Nov 1745, for on that date, legal records in Manchester
Township show that he died intestate and that some time before that, the Orphans’ Court had appointed the people who
were to carry out the legal activities concerning his death.Maria was
appointed administratrix for her husband, and Charles Johns and George Bryden Gross were appointed to appraise Velten’s
estate.The two men turned in their appraisals and inventories of the estate
on 16 Nov 1745.On 2 September 1746, Maria filed claims with the Register's office
in Lancaster County, and an administrationaccount was drawn up on
that day.The account showed that Maria had ₤90.5.11 from her husband's
estate. This money was to be distributed among his legal heirs at the discretion of the Orphans Court of Lancaster County.

Things dragged out, as legal
things often do.In 1749, York County was created out of part of Lancaster
County, so the Orphans’ Court of York County took over the administration of Velten’s estate.On 27 Mar 1750 the York County Orphan’s court appointed George Swope and Henry Shultz as 'Guardians
for Peter, Valentine, Martin, Eva, and Christian, minor orphans of the late Valentine Shultz.'Although there is no record showing how the ₤90.5.11 was handled, the children probably received their shares
as they became of age.

As previously noted, widows and widowers during the colonial days usually remarried
quickly.Eva Maria married Johan Jorg Ernest Mayer 29 May 1746 in Manchester, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.Since the
settlement of Velten’s estate was underway in mid-November of 1745, meaning that he had died sometime prior to that,
then Eva’s second marriage came about six or seven months after her first husband had died.Eva and her new husband continued to live in Manchester Township until their deaths.Eva Maria died sometime before 5 Jun 1777.She
was around 61 years old.

Valentine’s pioneering spirit was reflected in his grandson, Valentine, Jr., son of Martin, who
was one of the leaders of a 7-family, 150-person wagon train that took settlers to the unsettled Arkansas Territory to establish
new homes in 1833.Warned of hostile Indians in Texas, where they were originally
headed, the wagon train travelers decided to stop in Arkansas where the land reminded them of TN.

Johan Velten (Valentine) Shultz died as a young man.Nevertheless,
he achieved a great deal.His bravery led him to leave his war-torn country.He traveled to a new land and began building a home and family.Johan Velten suffered the loss of his wife, remarried, and fathered a large family.He supported his church and was about to begin enjoying the fruits of his labors when his life was cut
short.His children were to enjoy the life he had envisioned. Though we do not
know his origins for certain, we know that he, himself, was a man of strength and vision whose descendants should be satisfied
with the man he was.Perhaps one of those descendants will unravel the mystery
of his early years and answer some of the perplexing questions surrounding his life.

(We would
welcome any information that would help in straightening out the “which Valentine” question.Leave a message in the Guest Book, and we’ll get in touch with you.Thanks![Things would certainly be simpler if he turns out to be Gabriel’s
son with only one wife.])